From 8th July, customers will have access to a new movie premiere every day and a bigger library of on-demand films, as well as HD as standard when watching through Sky+HD or Sky Q.

by Maeve McLaughlin

on 17th August, 2016

Sky has today announced the launch of Sky Cinema, which will replace Sky Movies for Irish customers from 8th July. Sky Cinema will be available at no extra cost to existing customers and new subscribers.

The service will feature a new movie premiere every day on the week, which is an increase of 75% on the current four per week offered on Sky Movies. It will also host around 1,200 blockbuster and classic movies on demand, an increase of 20% on the current on-demand offering.

And all of these will be available in HD as standard for customers watching through Sky+HD or Sky Q, as Sky are removing the additional charge for HD services across Sky Cinema. Sky has also committed to providing even better sound quality, as well as the introduction of Ultra HD movies before the end of the year.

Sky Cinema customers who are also fans of Star Wars will be pleased to see that the service will be the exclusive home of this franchise, starting with the premiere of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in August. It will also be the home of superheroes, as Sky has exclusive access to all of the biggest movies from the DC and Marvel universes, including Captain America Civil War and Batman v Superman.

There are also plans to increase the frequency of pop-up channels, like the Harry Potter and 007 ones Sky has previously introduced. Some of the pop-ups that are already in the pipeline for the second-half of 2016 include Disney-Pixar and Star Trek, as well as one dedicated to the movies of Tom Hanks.

An interesting feature that will be introduced as part of the launch of Sky Cinema is the ability to restart movies from the very beginning at the push of a button, no matter what point customers switch the movie on at.

All movies will be available on 11 dedicated live channels, via on-demand or through Sky Go or the dedicated Sky Cinema app. Sky Cinema also allows customers to download all films and view them offline.

Sky Cinema will be available for €28 per month, but there is an introductory discount, which means customers will pay €20 per month for the first 6 months of the service.